Reunions

The next AOBA Reunion is intended to take place in June 2024. More details will be published in due course.

Reunions – To go or not to go.

It could have been yesterday, years fell away,
He was older, his hair now was thinning and grey.
Spectacles masked the fresh features recalled,
The figure more rounded than in days of old.

Lines of experience where none had been,
Etched deeply around the eyes, once young and keen,
Yet the stance, still erect, proclaimed to the crowd,
Here stood an old soldier, distinguished and proud.

The years had not dimmed his mind, quick now, as then,
That broad, ready smile reappearing again
As when in his youth, alert, full of life,
The wit and the humour, as sharp as a knife.

But close your eyes. Listen. Abandon the years,
You’re back in the barrack room, and it appears
That you’ve slipped back to when you were one happy band,
Sharing a bond only few understand.

The banter, the chat, cherished memories reviewed,
Recalled escapades, old time friendships renewed,
The camaraderie felt when back with old friends,
For the moment you’re all seventeen once again.

These are the feelings you get if you go
To the Old Boys Reunions and encounter those
You had pondered upon since you all flew the nest,
Those unanswered questions, at last laid to rest.

So pause and reflect when you come to decide,
Did the memory of time spent there fill you with pride?
Now, as you’re approaching the autumnal years,
Do you recollect times more happy than these?

If you don’t, take the plunge, for there’ll be no regret
Of ignored opportunities, later to fret
About what might have been if only you’d gone
To that missed Arborfield Old Boys Reunion!

© TeeCee